Top 10 New Foods at the 2012 State Fairs

Well, in regards to ridiculous overloads of novelty foods, it’s all downhill from here—state fair season is over for the year. We’ll have to wait for months before a stream of deep-fried, chocolate-covered, bacon-wrapped indulgences can once again make their appearance in our diets. In the meantime, let’s take a look at some of the most shocking new creations that made their debut onto the state fair food scene in 2012. Steel your arteries…

10. BIG Beef Rib – California State Fair

You’d think that a normal beef rib would contain enough animal flesh, but you would be wrong, and the California State Fair is here to prove it. They’ve jammed a giant 24-oz. steak ONTO a 17-inch beef rib bone. Why?! Because they can. (Photo: Cavegrrl.com)

9. Deep Fried Cotton Candy – Texas State Fair

We saw deep fried Kool-Aid and deep fried salsa at last year’s state fairs, so we should have known that cotton candy couldn’t be that far off. Pretty crazy, because it seems like the spun sugar would melt in the deep fryer. Life is full of mysteries. Not enough sweets for you? Don’t worry, this treat is served by a frozen yogurt purveyor, so feel free to use these giant balls of fried sugar as a topping on your froyo. (Photo: Cassie’s Frozen Yogurt)

8. Outlaw Stacker – Eastern Idaho State Fair

We all know that french fries are a great base for all kinds of toppings, and the Eastern Idaho State Fair really took that idea and ran with it. The Outlaw Stacker is a huge pile of fries smothered in gravy, bacon, and a fried egg. The name rings true—health and nutrition are truly outlawed in this dish. And we’re okay with that. (Photo: Eastern Idaho State Fair)

7. Camel Burger Sliders – Minnesota State Fair

Sliders are old news at the fairs these days, but not when they’re made with camel meat. Is that even legal? Apparently so, and the Minnesota State Fair, the originator of the Breakfast Lollipop, makes camel legally delicious by smothering it in spicy mayo, white American cheese, and caramelized onions. Store THAT in your hump! (Photo: Minnesota State Fair)

6. Bacon-Wrapped Eggs – Iowa State fair

If the best parts of breakfast are bacon and eggs, why have humans been eating them in separate bites for so long? Why not cram them all into one greasy mouthful? The Iowa State Fair said “challenge… accepted!” and solved this conundrum with their Bacon-Wrapped Eggs, miniature crumbled bacon pancake cups topped with egg and melted cheese. Oh yes, and wrapped in yet more bacon. (Photo: The Bird’s Nest)

5. Porkabella – Oklahoma State Fair

Mushrooms? Blech, they’re healthy! They don’t belong at the fair! In the most cleverly named item on our list, the Oklahoma State Fair solved mushrooms’ healthiness problem by stuffing them with gouda cheese, wrapping them in bacon and serving them on top of a pile of pretzels. Yup, that’s the Porkabella. (Photo: Nightshade’s Red Eagle Blog)

4. Lamb Fries – Minnesota State Fair

Continuing their “weird meat” trend, Minnesota State Fair took the novelty to a whole new level with their Lamb Fries. The name of this dish implies fries made of lamb meat, which is inventive and questionable enough as it is, but let’s clarify which type of lamb meat we’re talking about: BALLS. Lamb balls. Lamb testicles marinated in spices and deep-fried in a crumb coating. Whoa. (Photo: Scott Henderson)

3. Deep Fried Bacon Cinnamon Roll – Texas State Fair

Looks like combining breakfast items was a trend at the fairs this year. Bacon tastes great with sugar, and of course Texas capitalized on that with an extreme new indulgence. They started with a huge cinnamon roll, dipped it in a “special sweet pancake batter” (What makes it special? Everything!) deep fried said cinnamon roll, covered it in crispy bacon crumbles, and dumped a mountain of powdered sugar on top. Sounds like the breakfast of champions to us.  (Photo: State Fair of Texas)

 2. Fat Elvis On A Stick – Wisconsin State Fair

What is Elvis’ ultimate legacy? Music that changed the world? Awesome hair? Dashing good looks? Nope, apparently it’s the fact that he loved to gorge on peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwiches. Wisconsin paid tribute to this with their latest on-a-stick creation, the Fat Elvis:  a peanut butter cup dunked in banana batter, then deep-fried, and served with bacon on top, of course. Heartbreak Hotel? More like Heart Attack Hotel, but we want to check in anyway. (Photo: Carolyn B.)

1. Deep Fried Samoas – Texas State Fair

It should come as no surprise that the Texas State Fair: (a) made yet another showing in our list and (b) created the number one new fair food of 2012. It’s common knowledge that Samoas are the best Girl Scout cookies, with their delicious coconutty, caramely, chocolatey goodness. Obviously the only way to improve upon these popular treats is to wrap them in wonton wrappers and then… all together now… deep fry them! And then top them with yet more toasted coconut, chocolate, and caramel. (Photo: NBC2)

Oh America, our glorious land of excess. Thanks for the memories and the calories. Can’t wait to see what we manage to deep-fry and cover with sugar in 2013.

More: The Top 10 Foods from the 2011 State Fairs
The Top 10 Foods Only America Could Have Invented

 

You may also like

Leave a comment